Monday, 25 April 2011

"CANNOT YOU SEE, CANNOT ALL YOU LECTURERS SEE, THAT IT IS WE THAT ARE DYING, AND THAT DOWN HERE THE ONLY THING THAT REALLY LIVES IS THE MACHINE? WE CREATED THE MACHINE, TO DO OUR WILL, BUT WE CANNOT MAKE IT DO OUR WILL NOW...THE MACHINE DEVELOPS - BUT NOT ON OUR LINES. THE MACHINE PROCEEDS - BUT NOT TO OUR GOAL. WE ONLY EXIST AS THE BLOOD CORPUSCLES THAT COURSE THROUGH ITS ARTERIES, AND IF IT COULD WORK WITHOUT US, IT WOULD LET US DIE."

- E.M. FORSTER, THE MACHINE STOPS (1928).

VIVIFYING THE SENTIMENTS EXPRESSED IN AN EXCELLENT ESSAY I READ LAST MONTH - VILÉM FLUSSER'S 'TOWARDS A PHILOSOPHY OF PHOTOGRAPHY'. MORE ON THAT LATER.